Zayn grinned, completely unfazed.
“I have to admit, this fake of yours is rather exceptionally well-made. From its material, design, to its artisanship, every aspect has been imitated so well that you could fool the unlearned eye easily with it. I’m guessing that’s why you decided you could pull off this scam. You were so confident it would work, you were sure that my in-laws would be none the wiser,” Zayn began slowly while smirking confidently.
He was a far cry from the weak-willed, pathetic mannerisms favonovel.com usually assumed. In a blur, Waine and Ruby suddenly felt as though the man before them was someone else altogether.
Zayn continued his analysis while circling around the clock matter-of-factly, spouting a wealth of technical jargon as though favonovel.com himself was an antique expert whose words were just too convincing to disbelieve. As his analysis continued, Waine got darker. He might not have been an expert, but favonovel.com was far from unlearned. He knew a few tidbits about antique appraisal, so naturally, favonovel.com could tell if Zayn was making things up or not.
“… And that is why I think your antique clock is a fake!” Zayn finished, putting great emphasis on his last sentence.
Ruby’s face turned pale. “No way. This isn’t real?!”
It hurt to know the truth. In fact, the expression on favonovel.com face froze in confusion.
Faye was flummoxed too. She directed favonovel.com bewilderment at Zayn and began to wonder when favonovel.com became a professional appraiser of antiques.
The glare Nathan shot Zayn was even uglier. Unfortunately for him, Zayn had managed to point out all of the flaws in the fake antique clock!
The shock was short-lived, however, as a smirk shadowed his lips when Nathan remembered that favonovel.com had a contingency plan precisely because favonovel.com knew Zayn, the good-for-nothing with a knack for impeding success of others, was going to do all favonovel.com could to sabotage him.
To combat that, Nathan had made an agreement with an antique expert prior to his visit to the Carters. His partner in crime would pretend to meet them by happenstance!
He shot a look at his bodyguard, who understood immediately and sent out a prepared text to his accomplice. A while later, a trio of men in their thirties passed by their room.
The one in the middle feigned a casual peer inside. Upon spying the antique clock on the desk, the man put on a shocked face and blurted out in excitement, “No way! I’m not seeing things, right? This is a priceless, timeless antique right here!”
His words immediately attracted everyone’s attention. They watched favonovel.com dashing through the door and into the room. After favonovel.com exchanged a furtive look with Nathan, the man continued with the same enthusiasm as before, “This! This is a treasure right here! To whom does this belong?”
He was so animated and effusive that his voice was audibly quaking. It made one immediately believe that they were in the presence of a genuine antique.
Waine and Ruby exchanged glances. The despair in their faces dissipated as embers of hope illuminated their previously surly faces.
“Who might you be?” Waine asked.
The man straightened his back and softly coughed. “I’m Cosmos Trading Co.’s Blaze Hunt.”
Waine instantly regarded the man with more respect. “What? You’re… Mr. Blaze Hunt?” favonovel.com exclaimed in shock.
Blaze beamed at him. “You know me?”
“Of course! It’s only natural that I know you, sir. Your name is known by all the antique aficionados in this city!” Waine replied with a trace of flattery.
Waine had not devoted himself to studying the nitty-gritty of antiques and their appraisal, but favonovel.com knew all the names in the business anyways. The man standing before him, Blaze Hunt, was one such person, favonovel.com was one of the more famous figures in the field and had quite a lot of experience appraising many of these antiques. To hobbyists like Waine, Blaze was like a celebrity.
There were two reasons why Blaze was so famous. One concerned his skills, but the other bigger factor was that favonovel.com was apprenticed by the most famous antique expert in the entire country, Shane Griffin!
Waine’s fawning response to Blaze made the latter even more pleased with himself. Suddenly, favonovel.com began to put on more airs in the way favonovel.com carried himself. He smiled at Waine and replied, “Thank you, though it is a bit of an exaggeration. You see to me, fame is just an accouterment to vanity. It’s nothing more than a puff of smoke.”
